So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.
John 11:54
Jesus no longer walking about in the public places reminds me of Jesus asleep in the boat (Luke 8:22-24) except this time He remains with his disciples and I wonder if his mother Mary was there too. This time, it doesn't seem as if his disciples are crying out, as they did when they were afraid for their very lives in the boat in the stormy waters. The Sanhedrin and Caiaphas have planned their ideas about Jesus and his fate, yet how much did the disciples understand?
My point is that those times in our lives when we are distressed, we cry out to Jesus and if we do not find a remedy, the temptation is to blame God for a lack of response. Instead, it is very possible God is drawing us closer to Him because, in the silence, and once we calm our minds, we hopefully we find that consolation knowing that He remains. Our wants and desires change, but He knows what we need and will continue to draw us closer. The leaders in this passage have already dictated and decided the best fate in order to achieve what they think is important to them, and Jesus retreats with his disciples to wait it out. Let us try to be more like the disciples waiting with Jesus rather than the panicked leaders triyng to use their own schemes to ride out this storm.
